Mises Wire

Cannabis Victories!

There were three important victories related to cannabis yesterday, including the states of Michigan, Missouri and Utah which are far from being lefty hippy states! Only in North Dakota did the ballot measure fail.

Michigan passed full adult recreational legalization of cannabis by a 54-46 margin making it the 10th state to do so.

Missouri became the 31st state to legalize medical marijuana use. There were three cannabis amendments on the ballot and the one that passed will tax marijuana sales at just 4 percent. Of the three, it was the only proposal that allowed for home-growing of cannabis so it would seem that it was the most radical of the three choices.

Utah became the 32nd state to legalize medical marijuana use even though the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints campaigned against it!

Only in North Dakota did voters strike down Measure 3 which would have been the nation’s best recreational law, allowing citizens to grow, consume and possess as much cannabis as they want, without any government intervention.

Also the Democrats took control of the State Senate in New York and with Governor Cuomo flipping to the right side it looks cannabis legalization will be up for solid debate during the next session of the legislature.

Given that the FDA has given its first approval of a cannabis drug product and that Canada has legalized, I would say that this ideological battle has been won!

UPDATE: America’s biggest meathead, Pete Sessions (R-Texas), was defeated. Sessions has been blocking cannabis reform legislation in Congress and will be replaced by a Democrat. His opponent is a former NFL football player Colin Allred. Trump and Pence campaign for Session. I sent Allred's campaign a small donation and I think its the first time in history that a campaign that I contributed actually won!

Mark Thornton is a Senior Fellow at the Mises Institute and the book review editor of the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics. He has authored seven books and is a frequent guest on national radio shows.